23 March 2017

Oclaro adds dual-carrier PM-QMZ modulator to lithium niobate portfolio, enabling 1Tbs data rates with single gold box

Oclaro Inc of San Jose, CA, USA (which provides components, modules and subsystems for optical communications) has expanded its lithium niobate (LiNbO3) portfolio with the availability of a dual-wavelength PM-QMZ external modulator for data rates up to 1Tbs.

The new product joins Oclaro’s high-bandwidth single-carrier PM-QMZ modulator, which has been available since September 2015 and tested in many labs and R&D centers operating at different symbol rates up to 64Gbaud and at different modulation formats up to 128-QAM. Similarly to all other Oclaro LiNbO3 modulators, the new device supports L-band operation.

The launch “builds upon Oclaro’s proven track record in delivering high-speed, high-volume lithium niobate external modulators that our customers need to deploy 400G and 600G networks,” says chief commercial officer Adam Carter. “By adding a two-wavelength capability to our already proven single-wavelength product portfolio, we can now provide customers with the flexibility to design next-generation networks based on their cost, performance and power requirements,” he adds.

The dual-wavelength PM-QMZ lithium niobate external modulator is designed to enable data rates up to 1Tbs by using two wavelengths ‘packed’ in a single gold box. The modulator is a high electro-optic bandwidth polarization-multiplexed quad parallel Mach-Zehnder (PM-QMZ) device that integrates into a hermetic package two PM-QMZ sets, each of which includes an input beam splitter, four parallel Mach-Zehnder modulators configured for I-Q modulation, a polarization combiner, and monitor photodiodes for power and bias control.

The new modulator has a 3dB electro-optic bandwidth exceeding 28GHz, and a smooth optical response up to 45GHz enabling a symbol rate of up to 45Gbaud. An extinction ratio above 25dB enables complex modulation formats. Also, insertion loss below 12dB yields high efficiency.

Tags: Oclaro

Visit: www.oclaro.com